


Eclipse

by WrathoftheStag (Mwuahna)



Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Genre: Blue Ridge Mountains, Camping, Domestic Fluff, M/M, Travel, bitty loves jack, in love with nature, jack loves bitty, the 2017 eclipse, the great outdoors, zimbits - Freeform, zimbits fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-21
Updated: 2017-08-21
Packaged: 2018-12-18 05:48:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 945
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11867991
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mwuahna/pseuds/WrathoftheStag
Summary: Jack and Bitty travel to see the eclipse.  A small introspective piece about life, love and the world around them.





	Eclipse

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the following anonymous fic prompt: "Eclipse! Today's actually my birthday and I'm so excited to see the eclipse! How about Jack and Bitty somewhere on vacation seeing the cool eclipse. Georgia or somewhere with better visibility? Xx"

They had obtained their camping permits months ahead of time, planning well in advance for the trip. The seven hour drive from Madison to Shenandoah National Park was a peaceful one. Jack and Bitty quietly enjoyed the scenery as it danced past them. They stopped at a small diner for lunch. They devoured peaches from a roadside farm stand as Jack took a picture of Bitty who laughed while juices dripped down his hand.

They continued the drive and then the Blue Ridge Mountains appeared before them as they got closer.

“I had no idea they actually looked blue,” Jack said with quiet awe.

Bitty smiled. He adored how Jack still had this natural sense of wonder in him. Whenever he’d see something inspiring, something in nature, something that made him question, he lit up in a way Bitty could never get enough of.

“It’s the trees, sweetheart. They affect the atmosphere and make them a hazy blue. Pretty, right?”

Jack nodded and looked at the horizon, eyes wide.

They’d arrived five days before the solar eclipse and would camp out, exploring the park, finding quiet amongst the anonymity of the trees, the blind eyes of the clouds, and coolness of the streams.

After setting up their tent, Jack and Bitty hiked along a trail. They had been warned by Suzanne that it would be hot, but it wasn’t. The days had a certain dew to them that clung to their skin, and the mosquitoes – in a rare display of courtesy – hadn’t even bothered to show up.

They ate sandwiches and fruit, they crossed streams, and watched birds.

“That one right there is a tufted titmouse,” Bitty said as he handed Jack the binoculars. Jack smirked at the name as he lifted the binoculars to his eyes.

“It’s pretty, Bits.”

“Mmm…” Bitty said watching it jump from branch to branch. “I think there are hummingbirds here, too. Maybe we’ll see one if we’re lucky.”

They sat on a giant boulder they had climbed and looked at the valley below, neither of them saying a word but just studying the horizon ahead, in love with life and one another. The listened to everything around them, and nothing at all.

That night, Jack poked at their campfire with a stick watching the flames jump and spark. He became mesmerized by its dance, feeling tranquility wash over him yet again. Bitty came up behind him and curled himself around Jack, long legs wrapping around his body. 

“Look up at the sky, sweet pea,” Bitty whispered in Jack’s ear, lips brushing against his lobe.

Jack gazed up at the vast dark blanket which enveloped them, shimmering with thousands and thousands of stars. He inhaled sharply and squeezed Bitty’s hands. 

Jack still wasn’t used to this night sky overhead, it almost frightened him – to feel that small, that insignificant in the grand scheme of it all. Bitty hooked his chin over Jack’s shoulder and whispered, “It’s okay though, cause we’re traveling through this world together.” 

Jack closed his eyes and smiled, he listened to the silence all around them. 

The fire crackled as Jack pulled Bitty around and into his lap, plying him with soft wet kisses that became deeper and deeper still…

They had discovered one small stream that wasn’t too shallow or rocky. The water was cold, so cold, but they swam nonetheless. Bitty’s lips turning a slight blue, teeth chattering.

“How can you stand this water, but are practically dying back home the minute it hits 50 degrees out?”

“This is different, somehow,” Bitty said with a smile as he went under and reemerged in front of Jack’s face. 

The two kissed in the quiet of the stream, keeping each other warm.

When the day of the eclipse arrived, they drove to the southern section of the parkway. The relative solitude they had experience the last five days was now gone as they were surrounded by crowds wanting to see the eclipse, wanting to experience this in the same way they did.

At 2:30, Jack and Bitty sat on a blanket as they ate the treats Bitty had put out for them: peaches, salami, cheese, crackers, sparkling water. Bitty took out their glasses and handed a pair to Jack.

“So about seven minutes, with 71 seconds of totality,” Jack said, then took a slice of peach and continued, “We need to keep our glasses on during the partial, diamond ring, and Baily’s beads phases of the eclipse.”

“Diamond ring and Baily’s beads. Funny,” Bitty said with mirth. “You’ve certainly been doing your homework, huh, Mr. Zimmermann?”

Jack smiled and shrugged. “Are you really that surprised?”

Bitty smiled and stroked Jack’s face. “No, sweet pea. Not at all.”

And as the moon began its dance to cover the sun, and the crowd of people around them held their breaths and looked up toward the heavens, Jack clutched Bitty’s hand tightly. So tightly.

The corona grew and the daylight hid, bathing them all in darkness.

“My god,” Bitty whispered, squeezing Jack’s hand.

And when the eclipse reached totality, Jack and Bitty quickly took off their glasses and took one look at the sun, then turned to look at one another.

“I love you,” Jack said. “I love you, and will love you until the end of time.”

Bitty smiled and kissed Jack’s hand without even saying a word, even as they were obscured by the darkness around them, Jack could see all the love in Bitty’s eyes, could feel Bitty’s heart in his, and knew Bitty felt the same way.

They put their glasses back on, and watched as the sun began to reappear and greet the world.

**Author's Note:**

> All OMGCP characters belong to Ngozi. <3
> 
> Come and say hi [ on Tumblr](http://wrathofthestag.tumblr.com/).


End file.
